


This Happened, It's Happening, and It'll Happen Again

by Moshimma



Series: Why Wouldn’t We? [4]
Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: AU - Kiss of Life, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bisexual Disaster Ricky Bowen (HSMTMTS), Bisexual E.J. Caswell, Coming Out, E.J. Caswell Being an Idiot, Getting Together, Kissing, M/M, Ricky Bowen Being an Idiot (HSMTMTS), also, candid discussion on sexuality, honestly Nini is the only sane person lmao
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:08:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27287683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moshimma/pseuds/Moshimma
Summary: E.J. receives a strange phone call which makes him go to Ricky's house. He never wanted everything to go down like it did.
Relationships: Ricky Bowen & Nini Salazar-Roberts, Ricky Bowen/E.J. Caswell
Series: Why Wouldn’t We? [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1933018
Comments: 4
Kudos: 38





	This Happened, It's Happening, and It'll Happen Again

**Author's Note:**

> Here it is, the big finale. I'm sorry it took so long.

E.J. was never really in the mood to "talk" to Ricky ever. He absolutely loved spending time with him, but it's not like he ever actively looked for the guy. And Ricky rarely ever pursued E.J., so he assumed it was mutual. They had their fun every other now and then, but there was a sort of unspoken agreement that when one of them wants it to happen, it'll happen.

And the moment came, or so E.J. thought, as he looked down at his phone screen and saw Ricky's name on his lock screen.

 _This is it,_ he thought to himself, _He's gonna say something about us, and we'll figure the rest out later._

He put down the spoonful of cereal back into the bowl and answered the call, immediately playing dumb, "Hey, morning. Do you still have the controller?"

 _"Yeah, E.J. I have your controller..."_ he heard the younger boy say, clear distraught behind his voice.

E.J. got slightly alarmed, "Ricky, are you okay?"  
_"I'm fine, just come over."  
_"If there's something wrong, you can tell-"  
_"Please."_

E.J. felt like he could see Ricky in front of him, on the verge of crying, just like that time before everything started. Even though he wasn't the most _aware_ individual, he knew when Ricky wasn't okay,

And in that moment, he knew that the younger boy wasn't okay.

"I'll be there in ten."  
_"See ya."_

The taller boy's apetite had suddenly disappeared, like it had been thrown to the back of his mind, now not important. He quickly finished the bowl and ran to get his keys, not even bothering to change clothes. For some reason, his brain said that everything else could wait.

———

The front door was unlocked, which was usual for the Bowen Household. E.J. would never just barge inside, he'd always at least greet Ricky's dad, but this time he was in a hurry. He closed the door as quietly as possible while still rushing. He practically leaped up the stairs into Ricky's room, pushing the door on the way in.

"Ricky, what's-"

_Oh._

E.J. felt like he should've known this day would come, but it still felt surreal. He thought he had nightmares about that exact moment, but he was still not prepared for the scene playing in front of him. On the foot of Ricky's bed, the same one he had laid on more than once, was the younger boy practically sobbing his life away. Meanwhile his girlfriend stood in the corner, with a look of frustration on her face. E.J. took in what seemed like his last breath and stepped into the room, trying to stay a little calm.

He looked at Ricky curled up, "Okay, so... I'm assuming this _isn't_ about my Switch controller....?"

Nini exhaled sharply, "Tell me everything, I don't care how small the detail, I just need you to say it because _my boyfriend_ is a little busy at the moment."

She gestured vaguely at the now broken Ricky.

E.J. felt as if his throat was going to compress so hard he might actually just stop breathing. He felt pressured to lie, or to run away. Or to lie and run away. Preferably with Ricky.

He closed his eyes and opened his mouth, "You see, in 1889, Fusajirō Yamauchi founded this company called Nintendo-"

Ricky laughed slightly, stopping the sobbing for a second, but Nini didn't seem quite so impressed.

The older boy bit his lip and shrugged, "Sorry. Okay, well, I was having some trouble with my expiration date on the day of the Beauty and the Beast auditions-"

The girl in the corner sighed exasperatedly, "Wait, so this was happening before I even left?"

Ricky looked up at her, "J-just, let h-him f-f-finish-sh."

E.J. took his cue and continued, "I ran out of Kissalatram and I couldn't get one quickly. I woke up and my hair was already graying, so I began panicking. I asked Miss Jenn if I could skip auditions, and she began ranting about how I _couldn't_ even consider the idea of skipping. And so, she asked Ricky to kiss me... just to sto

Nini nodded, "So you two decided to stick your tongues down each other's throats _at the first opportunity?_ Wow. That's wonderful."  
Ricky groaned, "Can you please _not_ refer to it as 'sticking our tongues down each other's throats'?"

E.J. exhaled sharply, "I was about to die, Nini. He saved me."  
"Wether you he saved you or not," Nini explained, "do you think it's okay for you two to _lie_ _?"_

Ricky sighed, "NIni, it wasn't anything then. I didn't even think about the kiss, because I had you!"

Nini shook her head, "Shut up. E.J., go on."

The older one looked at Ricky: "He got close to his expiration and really freaked out, more than he could handle, so he came to my house to see if I still had Kissalatram. One thing led to another and then he was outting on his shirt after making out with me."

Nini placed her hand on her forehead, "I thought you were straight."  
"I went to a theater camp, Nini. What did you expect?"

Ricky wiped a tear away, still crouching, "That's a dumb stereotype that just makes it harder for men to get into acting."  
"Ricky, you're a theater guy and yesterday I had to _push you away_ so you didn't give me a hickey."

Nini and Ricky both physically looked away and screamed, "E.J.!"

E.J. raised both hands in defense, "I'm not lying!"

Silence fell in the room as they collectively tried to think. There was too much in the air for them. Ricky finally stopped crying, but he was still curled up, trying to keep himself together. Nini felt like she didn't have enough power in her throat to scream for as long as she needed to. All while E.J.'s mind was still begging him to just leave as quiclky as possible.

Needless to say, this is _not_ the way _any of them_ thought this day would go.

Nini finally broke the silence, sighing, "Do you guys love each other?"

E.J. and Ricky both looked at her suddenly, saying the same thing, "What?! No!"

Ricky wiped his cheek, "I barely know him!"  
E.J. rolled his eyes, "He's a terrible loser! We had to beat Beppi the Clown **7 times** because he refused to give up without the three parries!"  
"It's not _my_ fault you suck at timing in video games, Caswell!"  
"RICKY! YOU WERE THE ONE THAT KEPT MISSING THE NOSE ON THE ROLLERCOASTER!"  
"THAT'S A DIFFICULT PARRY! SHUT UP!"

Nini rolled her eyes, "Okay! Okay! Stop it with the bickering already. So, if you guys don't love each other or whatever, what's going on with you two?"

Ricky immediately began freaking out more, not saying anything.

Meanwhile, E.J. smiled goofily, "I don't know, he's a good kisser."  
Ricky scoffed, "Well, one of us had to be..."

E.J. gasped, "What?!"

Nini shrugged, "He's got a point, you _get worse_ the more you kiss."  
"I do not!"

Ricky laughed, looking at Nini, "And when he does the thing with his lower lip where he kinda _brings it in?_ God, it's so annoying!"  
She nodded, "Oh my God, I know _exactly_ what you mean-"

E.J. furrowed his brows, "I am _right_ here you guys!"

Nini and Ricky began giggling to themselves, while E.J. kept his annoyed expression.

———

It was already a month after that afternoon, and Ricky was waiting by the school entrance with Nini next to him.

"Are you guys gonna go anywhere?" she asked him.  
"I think we're just going to eat pizza in his bedroom or something."  
"So he _didn't_ organize an entire flash mob that performs an original song?"

Ricky scoffed, "God, I hope not. It's only been _one_ month. Did I ever thank you for making us get together?"  
"Only like three times a day since then."

Ricky was going to say something else, when E.J. suddenly arrived, his car stopping suddenly in the parking space.

The older boy practically leaped out, almost falling, "Hey, morning!"  
Ricky ran over to him, giving him a hug, "Good morning. Happy one-month."  
"Oh, has it been a month already?"

Ricky laughed, looking at Nini, "See, I told you he was going to forget!"  
"No, you said you _hoped_ he was going to forget?"

They began walking closer to the school, E.J. raising an eyebrow, "What? Why would you hope I forget?"  
"I didn't want you making a big deal, you know how you get."

E.J. laughed nervously, _"Yeah... good thing I didn't make a big deal..."_

Ricky was about to ask, when suddenly a jock he hadn't seen before approached them, immediately turning to the taller boy, "E.J.! Linda forgot to bring the 4th box of confetti poppers!"

Ricky and Nini turned to E.J. slowly, shaking their heads.

The older boy let out a sigh and grabbed something from his pocket, handing it to the guy that approached them, "These are my car keys, I have two backup boxes in the back, just go."

The jock ran away, leaving E.J., Ricky, and Nini alone. Nini and Ricky immediately began laughing as they continued walking towards the school.

**Author's Note:**

> There you have it folks, the end. What do y'all think about the AU? It took a while for me to conceptualize and imagine how it would work. I feel like I'm gonna keep writing in this AU simply 'cus I like it. I encourage y'all to write in it, maybe it can actually become a real tag one day lmao


End file.
